Surfaces are now cleaned off on dining table, coffee table and dining room buffet.

I happened to open up Megan's grip bag (which was sitting on the buffet) because it felt like it was stuffed with something and I know for a fact that her grips are safely in her locker at the gym.

What I discovered was about a pound of dirty socks and underwear (which she must remove when she dons her leotard after school). So I guess they had been cluttering up her locker and she decided to bring them home to be washed. It would be nice if she'd gone the extra step to put them in her hamper - or at least let me know.

At least now I know why I am forever buying her socks and underwear because she never seems to have any.

I also found several of the bad tasting gummy vitamins I coax her to take to make up for her bad eating habits. These were scattered on the lower shelf of the coffee table.They're kind of shriveled and more than a little bit dusty.

Before I throw them out, I've placed them on a plate and am going to tell her she needs to eat them anyway. Think she'll settle for a couple of fresh ones?

...finished the second ClubMom application. A good thing, and not just because I was wrong about the deadline in my previous post (It's actually TODAY)...

...but that with my family driving down tomorrow to help us celebrate Megan's birthday, I have some MAJOR HOUSEWORK to do. I need a full week to get the house to where I'd like it to be -- but, as usual, I only have the time now to do a truly half-assed job.

Yes, it really is THAT BAD. Don't believe me? Click on the link to my Flickr stream, where I reveal to the world how slatternly a housekeeper I truly am. (Yes, I will also post my AFTER photos. At least, I KNOW how awful the house looks right now... and how to fix it, even if half-assedly.)

Now that I've emailed my applications to the ClubMom people, I need to simply forget about them. I know that I'm competing with hundreds of other writers for these coveted jobs, so my odds of landing one are not good. In the meantime (now that it's over), I had fun researching and writing them, and I think some of them came out pretty OK... especially the ones where I got to highlight some of my FAVORITE blogs... maybe even one of YOURS...

March 28, 2006

Filling out those online applications and writing six original posts (three for each job) has proved tougher than I thought. I finally finished the one for the topical blog yesterday, and am now trying to apply for the job to highlight the work of other blogging moms (which is the more interesting of the two positions, not least because it pays better).

It doesn't help that my computer has been acting up the last couple of days -- I cannot tell you how much time I've wasted trying to remove a virus that ultimately wasn't there in the first place!

But there's no time. In addition to ClubMom's March 31 deadline, I have my family coming that night for Megan's April 1 birthday party. And you know what that means: massive housecleaning. I have no idea how I'm going to get it all done.

I came that close to calling in sick today at school -- but I have deadlines there, too.

So posting will continue to be light here. In the absence of anything original from me, here's a nice email I received from a couple of businessmoms with a product that made me laugh:

We're two stay-at-home moms who like to put an irreverent twist on motherhood. So, we started a company called "Planet Mom" about a year ago. We sell apparel that's stylishly embroidered with (hopefully!) funny expressions geared toward women, especially moms.

Here are some of the lines you might see on our shirts, yoga pants and hats:

"Whine? No. Wine? Yes."

"Seeking

Tall, Dark, Rich

cup of coffee"

"Secretary of Transportation"

"Trophy Wife"

"Botox Free"

"Nudity. Nature's answer to laundry."

"I need a playdate"

"Lead Actress in a Comedy"

etc., etc.

Our apparel has been featured on NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "The View" among other places. (Not bad for two totally exhausted, pushed-to-the-limit, moms who are, as our shirts say, "Nanny Deprived"!)

From your blog, it seems we might be birds of a feather, so we thought you'd like our site. At the very least, you'll probably get a laugh or two out of it!

March 21, 2006

I haven't been myself lately. Motivation has been difficult. The thought of doing my taxes (which I started - and stopped - last week) put me to sleep. I haven't the mental energy to write the sample posts I need to submit with the job application I discussed in the previous post.

I was beginning to suspect that I was becoming clinically depressed.

Then I realized what was wrong: I had been living caffeine free for over a month.

He Who Shall Not Be Named once nicknamed me "The Slug," because I tend to move very slowly. A grande triple shot cappuccino might leave the average person wired... but I need it just to get myself up to normal speed.

I switched off the unleaded coffee a few days ago and now I'm getting some stuff done -- like those damned taxes.

A crutch? Perhaps. But the proof is in the pudding.

Unfortunately, while my body seems to crave the stuff, it cannot handle it in the same quantities as it used to. Just like the carbs, alcohol and other fun things I've had to cut back on. So I do have to limit myself to just one grande Americano.